ISO Billion-Dollar Ideas

California is a land of opportunity. Here, a good idea and the will to work for it can take hold and take off. The history of groundbreaking innovation from homegrown industries spans aerospace, aviation, entertainment, technology and beyond.

With these opportunities comes traffic, so it is quite natural that L.A. County turn this spirit of innovation to our transportation system.

You may have heard about Metro’s L.A. County Traffic Improvement Plan to bring the next generation of transportation investments to the region. If approved by the voters in November, the plan would double down on an already historic era of transportation investment.

But what if, in addition to investing billions of dollars in these big new projects, we also invested in big new ideas to amplify and maximize those investments and the connections between them? What if we could deliver mega-projects faster, safer, cheaper or smarter? What if we invited the sharpest minds in technology, finance, and engineering to give us their ideas for how we can get the most out of every penny we invest? Could innovation help to deliver the best transportation system imaginable? Together, could government and the private sector set a new standard for service and deliver more for the people of L.A. County?

That’s exactly what the Office of Extraordinary Innovation is thinking. Metro’s Plan sets a strong foundation for easing congestion and moving the region, but we live in an age of unprecedented innovation, and if Metro isn’t open to new ideas from beyond our doors, we’re likely to miss out on some of what this new era has to offer.

The possibilities aren’t theoretical – we can see promising results today, in examples like the Eagle P3 rail project in Denver that incorporated $450 million in private financing to help build new transit lines, advance project timelines and save $300 million in construction costs. In Finland, Helsinki is seeking to develop a citywide “mobility on demand’ transportation system that integrates all forms of shared and public transport in a single planning and payment network, helping residents to move seamlessly between all forms of transportation. And Washington, D.C. is experimenting with micro-transit bus service that uses virtual bus stops that adjusts on the fly to pick up passengers where they are while avoiding the extra cost and inconvenience of serving empty stops.

The sky is the limit when it comes to ideas that Metro might seek to test and implement. Metro is opening its doors to doers from all over the world with our Unsolicited Proposal Policy.

The process is simple: come up with a brilliant idea, write it down, submit it to unsolicitedproposals@metro.net. We’ll review it and respond within 60 days. If the idea has potential, we’ll work with you to develop a more detailed proposal for potential implementation.

Innovation is a shared value at Metro, and it needs to be a shared effort. Because we know that billion-dollar idea is out there, and we’re ready to make it happen. All it takes is someone with a good idea, some hard work, and a willingness to work together as partners in a common goal.